Jump to content
Electronics-Lab.com Community

sink vs. source? explanation please


PaulKraemer

Recommended Posts

???Hi,

I work in the industrial automation industry, but I do not have a strong electronics background.  Alot of devices I am forced to deal with (drives, tension controllers, temperature controllers) have discrete inputs that you can use to tell the device to perform some action (start, stop, enable, etc.)  I've read alot of manuals for these devices, and most of them use either the word "sink" or "source" in the description of these inputs.  I do not have a great understanding of these terms.  I was wondering if someone could give me an explanation in laymans terms, or point me towards anything I can read that may have a good explanation.

Thanks,
Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites


A curreent sink means it connects the output to 0V - remember the current is sinking from +V to 0V.

A current source is whe the output becomes connected to +V - remember it is providing a source of current from +V.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
  • Create New...